ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
What a difference three months makes. On May 18th, I wrote “Trading Panic: Rushing Past the Exit from Brazil” to explain why I bought the big dip in iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (EWZ) after Brazilian President Michel Temer was accused of bribery. I greatly under-estimated the upside opportunity at the time, and I find … Read more
The latest CFTC data on the Commitments of Traders (CoT) showed some key trends continuing: new heights of bullishness on the Australian dollar (FXA) and the Canadian dollar (FXC), and on-going depths of bearishness for the Japanese yen (FXY). Speculators increased net longs on the Australian dollar for the 8th week in a row. Speculators … Read more
AT40 = 63.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 60.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 9.6 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary The stock market had a relatively bland day that matched a relatively bland statement on monetary policy from the … Read more
The Japanese yen (FXY) is the one major currency that has been notably weaker than the U.S. dollar for most of the past month. USD/JPY peaked in December, 2016, but it looks like the sell-off bottomed out in April. Source: FreeStockCharts.com This yen weakness has been particularly evident against strong currencies, like the euro (FXE), … Read more
A year ago, speculators accumulated net long contracts on gold that exceeded anything seen since at least 2008. Starting in late 2015, silver speculators set several such records with the latest set just three months ago. Now, speculators in gold and silver are in full retreat. Net longs seem headed for zero for both precious … Read more
AT40 = 52.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 56.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 10.9 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary The Fed hikes short-term rates, and long-term rates go down. This relationship is not the expected one but is … Read more
AT40 = 56.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 57.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 10.4 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary The Federal Reserve gave the permission to the stock market that I awaited…well, sort of. On Wednesday, June 14, … Read more
The Mexican peso is trading at levels last seen 10 months ago against the U.S. dollar (USD/MXN). Source: FreeStockCharts.com The rate hike from the Federal Reserve yesterday, along with an official launch of the Fed’s effort to reduce the size of its balance sheet, helped USD/MXN rally. Normally, I would fade USD/MXN here at the … Read more
My bearishness on the U.S. dollar index (DXY0) continues as two currency positions in particular have delivered against the U.S. dollar. A month ago I wrote about the Turkish Lira (USD/TRY) and suggested that the high-yielding currency pair would eventually crack below support at its 200-day moving average (DMA). USD/TRY delivered at the end of … Read more
Bulls in the Mexican peso successfully reversed all the post-election gains in USD/MXN. Yet they failed to hold onto a big break through when USD/MXN hit a new 6-month low last week. Buyers quickly stepped in and sent USD/MXN right back to its declining 50-day moving average (DMA). Source: FreeStockCharts.com The latest CFTC data on … Read more